"Hey, what are you doing, creep?!!"

Miyuki Yamamoto...a bespectacled girl with pulled-back light brown hair and hazel eyes, one of the four Maidens who was captured and converted by Aphrodite not twelve hours before...stares at Yuu as she tries to pick up a card from the deck. "Yuu-chan, Miyuki-chan can do that, remember?" Shingo gazes at his girlfriend.

Yuu blinks, then gazes innocently at her beloved. "She can?"

"Hai, she can. Let Miyuki-chan play."

"Er...okay," Yuu sits down, then gazes at her cards.

Miyuki sighs, takes up a card, then discards another. Beans looks at the combo in the girl's hand. Ace, king, queen, ten and two, the first four all hearts. All she needed was the jack of hearts and it'd be a royal flush. Yuu picks up a card, discards another, then shows her hand to her boyfriend. Cute couple, Beans muses. "Your turn," she whispers to Miyuki.

"Hai," Miyuki pulls up another card from the deck. Jack of hearts. The two exchange nods, then Miyuki lays the hand down. "Royal flush!"

"No way!!" Usagi gapes as Yuu places her hand down.

Three of a kind and a pair. "Not a bad hand, Yuu," Beans stares at Shingo's girlfriend...who was now crying. "Hey, it's just a game, huh!! Relax!! It's okay!"

"You don't understand, Mame-san," Miyuki smiles at her. "Yuu and I've played nearly countless games over our lifetime. She's never once won against me...when she wasn't cheating, that is!" she winks at a red-faced Yuu.

"One day, Miyuki! One day!!" Yuu wags her finger.

Beans chuckles, looking around the Tsukino home. The Shingi Maidens captured by the Sailor Senshi were relaxing, chatting with their new friends. Rushing through the crowd was Taeko Hosaka (another of the four captured by Ayako), a sweet girl with her brown hair in short pigtails behind her ears, refilling everyone's glasses with punch. The last two of that group, Akira Sugihara (a wavy blonde with a red headband) and Manami Adachi, were chatting with Rei, Chie and her date Yuuichirou.

"Feeling well, Beans?" a voice wonders as a light weight lands on her shoulder.

Beans turns to see Luna sitting there, gazing intently into the American's eyes. Of all the things she had learned about the Senshi, this was about as mind-blowing as the Nendo-kata: a talking cat. "What would you think?"

"Well, for one who has a fish tank with a lake god and the spirit of Katsura's mother in her room at university, this should seem quite normal," Luna seems to smile.

"You want to know what really blew me away?"

"What?" Luna blinks.

"That your leader is actually named 'rabbit of the moon,'" Beans' eyebrows wriggle, switching to English.

Luna sighs. "There are times I think that is what she is."

Those around Beans who spoke English notice the mirth in her voice, then return to what they were doing. "Well, that's not as bad as your nickname," Mamoru chuckles, sitting beside Yuu.

"You must be Tuxedo Kamen, right?" Beans hums.

"Hai," Mamoru draws a rose, then hands it to her.

"Thank you," the American smiles.

"How come you don't allow people to use your real name?"

Beans shrugs. "Hey, it's my choice! My family, my close friends," she gazes at Haruka and Michiru, now chatting with Wakana and Emiru, "...and the Nendo-kata know it, know not to use it with other people around and I'm happy."

"Choice is yours," Mamoru nods.

"Could you answer me a question?"

"Shoot."

"If you're supposed to be Earth's guardian, how come there's a Sailor Terra?" Beans nods to Naru, happily gabbing away with Usagi, Nona and Chooko by the stairs to the upper floor.

Mamoru sighs. "You might say that Naru...is above a Senshi."

"Above a Senshi?"

"Yes," Luna nods. "Unlike Mamoru, Usagi and the others, Naru wasn't resurrected from a previous life in the Silver Millennium. However, as Usagi's best friend from this lifetime, the Senshi felt it was only right that Naru be permitted to remain with her friend. Hence, we obtained the help of a friend to give Naru her own power. Nicole...made Naru very powerful."

"Yeah, Haruka told me about that on the flight in," Beans muses. "She fought this Galaxia girl right to a standstill."

"Indeed, that was shocking," Luna admits. "Galaxia is equal in power to Usagi, yet Naru defeated her without problem. We've yet to ask Nicole why this was possible."

"Unless Nicole configured Naru's powers with Galaxia in mind," Mamoru muses.

Beans hums, remembering Haruka's and Michiru's pained words concerning the Senshi's first fight with Galaxia. "What was it like?" she hums. "I mean...having that thing taken from you?"

Mamoru's eyes are bleak. "Helplessness like you wouldn't believe, Mame-san. Knowing this woman...who, mind you, was deep down a very good person who was caught in a very bad position, corrupted by Chaos to hunt all living Senshi down to conquer the galaxy...was stalking Usako..."

Shuddering, he wipes his eyes. "You still have problems with Usagi and her training," Luna calmly observes.

"Wouldn't you?" Mamoru hums.

"Aren't we the gallant knight?" Beans smiles. "Mamoru, look. I can see where Usagi's coming from. If my boyfriend was badly hurt defending me, I'd feel pretty awful. That's not supposed to happen in this day and age. I don't know much about this destiny of yours, but Usagi deep down might be asking 'What did I do to deserve a very nice guy like this, not to mention very nice friends like these, protecting me?' Ever thought of that?"

"Not...really," Mamoru hums.

"She's here!!!" Sakebu calls from the doorway.

Lights snap off. Everyone braces themselves as the front door opens to reveal a tall woman with long hair partially rolled in a ball over the back of her head. Lights snap on to reveal a...to Beans' total surprise...very shocked Setsuna. "***SURPRISE!!!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SETSUNA-CHAN!!!!!!***"

Yuki stands behind the time guardian, whose cheeks are now reddening from everyone's wishes. "I see why you asked me to not watch over the Time Gate for this day," Setsuna hums.

"Hey, you deserve a surprise, too," Yuki laughs...

* * *

"Indeed you do, time dancer," Reverend Fushingi smiles, then nods at Onmitsu and Galaxia.

Both bow, then withdraw...

* * *

"Faith No More"
a tale of the Sailor Senshi
by Fred Herriot
fherriot@yahoo.com
**** **** ****
Edited by E.B. Kushnir
kush1@iaw.on.ca
**** **** ****
Based on "Sailor Moon," created by Naoko Takeuchi
**** **** ****

PART FOUR - CONTAGION OF CHAOS

"Here you go, Setsuna," Beans hands a bucket over.

"What's this?" the time guardian blinks, then with some help from Yuki, opens the bucket and gets showered with packing peanuts.

"Oh, no, Mame-chan, you didn't...!" Haruka winces.

"Hai, I did," Beans winks.

"What is this?" Artemis wonders.

"The Bucket O' Goodies," Beans explains. "The nastiest trick anyone of my family can play on anyone else."

"What did I do to deserve this?" Setsuna mutters, then reaches in to pull up a ball of wrapped yarn the size of a volleyball.

"Oh, I get it now!" Makoto smiles. "It's a sweater! You just gotta knit it now."

Everyone laughs. Setsuna sighs, then finding the end of the yarn, begins to undo the wrapping. After a half-hour...and layers of yarn, packing peanuts, more yarn, duct tape, little green army soldiers and uncut keys, she got to the polymer ball...which had a beautiful dark grey key with a red ruby at one end within. Not even a close imitation of her Time Key, but for Setsuna, it was a very nice gesture. "Beans, this is beautiful!" she smiles.

"How long did you work to wrap it up?!" Ami wonders.

"Three days," Beans smiles, then looks at Haruka. "How long did it take you and Michiru to unwrap your gifts at Christmas?"

"About forty-five minutes, I think," Haruka hums.

"And I unwrapped mine first," Michiru muses.

Haruka's eyebrow twitches. "Evil woman."

Everyone laughs, then Setsuna turns to her sister, a touch of annoyance in her eyes. "So, you mind finally telling me what your present is?! The one you made me stay away from the Time Gate for three days to prepare, then made me promise not to see into the future for this day?!"

"Why are you so upset?" Yuki muses. "The Guardian kept an eye on things while you were gone. Besides, you hardly ever take a vacation from your duties, Setsu-chan. You needed the break."

Setsuna sighs, gazing helplessly at her friends. "So what's the present?" Usagi wonders.

"More a 'who' than a 'what,' Usagi-chan," Yuki winks, then calls out, "Would you care to join us, please?!"

Everyone turns to a clear spot on the floor, where a vertical line forms, then blows out into a man in a white tuxedo and black cape. "Sorry I'm late," the Forever Knight doffs his hat.

"Who are you...no way!!" Makoto gapes.

The other Inner Senshi also gape, recognizing their former classmate under the tux and cape. The Outer Senshi blink confusedly. The Twins and Naru grin. He chuckles, then draws off his mask, replacing it with round-frame glasses...as the Forever Knight reverts to Gurio Umino. "Happy Birthday, Setsu-chan."

If it took a lot to shock Ayako, it was nigh impossible to get Setsuna. But Yuki did. "Gurio...?!" she stammers, then stumbles into his arms, joyful tears streaming down her face. "GURIO!!!!"

"How?!!" Usagi turns to Yuki.

"Well, I needed help on this one, so I asked the Guardian of Forever to do to Gurio what he did to Setsuna back in the Silver Millennium," Yuki muses.

"'Guardian of Forever?'" Beans wonders. "You mean this big bagel-shaped thing that was on a 'Star Trek' episode once...?!"

"Hai, the same," Yuki grins. "He admitted to me that Ellison-sensei and Roddenberry-sensei were very forward-thinking when they came up with the idea for that episode."

"NO...WAY!!!!" Beans gapes.

Everyone laughs. "If it exists, Yuki-chan knows about it or can find out about it," Sakebu beams.

"So what is your job, anyway?" Minako turns to Gurio.

"Easily explained," Gurio smiles. "Setsu-chan is in charge of keeping an eye on 'what was' and 'what will be.' Yuki-chan is in charge of the 'why.' I watch over 'what is.' I call it Infinity since there are an infinite amount of dimensions I can travel to."

"Whoa!!" Usagi whistles. "Geez, what next, I wonder?!"

Rei and Matsuri tense as a distant explosion rocks the house. "We got other things to worry about first!" the former looks out a window to see a miasmic cloud billow from near Juuban High School.

"Oh, brother, doesn't this idiot ever give up?!" Minako sighs.

"Who cares?!" Ayako grins. "It's heartbreak time!"

* * *

Two minutes later, the Forever Knight warps the Sailor Senshi, Tuxedo Kamen and the Salvation Senshi, plus Beans, Chie and Wakana, to a building overlooking Juuban High School, which is now being swarmed by a battalion's worth of Haishin. "Wonderful!!" Sailor Moon grimaces. "What a way to wreck a birthday party!"

"Wait, there's something wrong here!" Chie holds up her hand. "I don't sense any of the Maidens here!!"

"Someone better keep an eye on the others back at the house," Beans hums, finding herself getting into the swing of things despite earlier vows. "If this Fushingi asshole is plenty pissed over losing half his troops like that..."

"Good point," Moon nods. "Hades, Knight, Gaia, you go back to watch over everyone else. Mame-chan, you should go back, too. This isn't gonna be pretty."

"Hey, in for a pint, in for a pound," Beans winks. "'Sides, part of me's always wanted to see you in action."

Moon nods. "We can protect her," Chie smiles, indicating herself, then Wakana.

"Okay," Moon sighs. "Terra, hang back in case Galaxia shows up! Rest of you, let's go!!"

The Forever Knight, Hades and Gaia vanish to the Tsukino residence as everyone else leaps the chasm to Juuban High, finding themselves neck-deep in Haishin. Instantly, the battle is joined. "Oh, man, I wish I had a camera!" Bean whistles. "No one back home'd believe any of this!!"

* * *

"I should be there with them," Yuu frets.

"Yuu, there's little you can do," the Forever Knight warns.

"But if Galaxia comes, I can try to change her back," Yuu gazes at him. "I'm the one who converted her to the Reverend's cause, Gurio. Please, let me try."

A pained look crosses his face. "Yuu, I know how much you care for us now...but there are certain things that have to happen in a certain way," he looks down.

"What do you mean...?" Yuu's eyes widen as her empathic senses pick up...remorse?...from the Forever Knight. "No..."

"This isn't easy for us," Hades sighs. "But if Crystal Tokyo is to come into being...the Silver Millennium must finally die."

"Wait a moment!!" Artemis leaps down beside her. "What do you mean?! They are the same...!"

"They are not the same, Artemis," Hades gazes sadly at the cat. "The Silver Millennium had very great weaknesses within it, weaknesses that allowed the Dark Kingdom to overwhelm it. Most of those are weaknesses of the spirit, a fixation on beliefs and traditions that haunt the Sailor Senshi right to this day. Thanks in part to the coming of Sailor Terra, the Twins and the Forever Knight, Sailor Moon has already made a profound first step towards rectifying that. The others have to do it, too."

"At what cost?" Luna blinks.

"All good things come at cost, Luna," Hades bites her lips...

* * *

"HIYAAA!!!!" Moon crescent-kicks a Haishin, then belts him with a Moon Energy Dart Storm. Looking around, she notices that half the monsters are still up. "How is everyone?!!"

"Handling it good, Sailor Moon!!" Jupiter throws off another Haishin, then unleashes the Oak Evolution.

Pained bellows rage from the monsters as they disintegrate, morphing back to normal. By that time, enough of a safety zone has been cleared to allow Chie, Wakana and Beans across to administer first aid. "Wait a moment!" Aphrodite gets three with the Mixed Passion Attack. "Where're the Shingi Maidens?!"

Mercury looks around, scanner visor down. "I still don't detect any of them around!" she warns. "Hermes?!"

"Nothing I've seen," Hermes lances one with the Thousand Knives Strike, then belts it with the Hyperspeed Acceleration.

Moon tenses, then her eyes widen. "We've been set up!!!"

"How right you are, Sailor Moon!"

Lightning flares, revealing Galaxia hovering several metres off the ground, arms crossed, a gleeful smile splitting her face. "I take it that's Galaxia, right?" Beans wonders.

"Hai, she is," Chie grimaces.

"What do you want, Galaxia?!" Moon draws the Crystal, hand falling to the Lancer's hilt.

Galaxia tenses. "What do you think, Sailor Moon...?!"

Her voice is cut off as twin geysers of energy race at her. "***GALACTICA TSUNAMI!!!!!!***" Ginkaibijou howls.

"***DEATH HYPNOSIS PARALYSIS!!!!!!***" Enko adds.

Galaxia leaps clear...only to find herself knocked back by some sweet chin music from Tetsuzo! "That was for using us like a puppet, you uncaring bitch!!!" the iron maiden falls back to the roof, tensing herself as the Golden Senshi makes a four-point landing near the other Senshi.

Growling, Galaxia bolts up, then fires her wrist-bracelets. The bolts scream at Tetsuzo, whose eyes glow, telekinetic bubbles catching and collapsing on the energy balls to destroy them. "Nice try," the Wanderer chuckles. "We're very hard to kill!"

"Maybe you...but not THEM!!!!" Galaxia spins around.

Moon gasps as the bolts lash out, homing like missiles on the original Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen. "NO!!!!!!" she screams as star seeds form over their heads.

Galaxia howls with glee as the seeds fly into her hands, the nine victimized warriors dropping like marionettes with their strings cut to the floor. "HARUKA!!!! MICHIRU!!!!" Beans bolts up, racing over to the stilled Uranus and Neptune.

"Oh, so easy!!" the Golden Senshi laughs, staring at the little girl trying to help her friend up, then soars off.

Moon tenses, gazing at her friends. Not vanishing this time...probably thanks to Nicole's improvements on their powers sometime ago...but they were as still as corpses. Glaring at the laughing Galaxia, she snarls as the Lancer is drawn, the Crystal returning to hyperspace as she assumes a ready stance. "You witch, try that with me!!!" she threatens.

Galaxia's eyes narrow. There was something dangerous about the sword in Moon's hands, a danger that would badly hurt people like her. Very clever, she grins. She never thought Moon had it in her. "Not yet," she forms a chair to relax on. "I intend to watch you suffer at the loss of your friends, first."

Moon blinks, then glances over to see Beans shaking Uranus. "C'mon, Haruka, get up!!" the American barks. "Usagi needs you!! Get up, you idiot!!! GET UP!!!!" No response. Beans shudders, then feels for a heartbeat. It was barely there. "Haruka...!"

Moon sighs, then stares at Galaxia. "Why?! Wasn't once enough?! Where's your dedication to protect others?!!"

"Where did it get me?!" Galaxia snorts. "It nearly got me killed! I'm not going to allow that to happen to me again!!"

The pretty warrior pales, horrified that Fushingi had twisted the other warrior so badly. Fine. Goad her into an attack, then let the Lancer or Sailor Terra do the rest.

"Then...you...are...no...longer...a...Senshi!"

Galaxia's eyes flare, then she leaps to the roof ten paces from Sailor Moon. "I'll show you how much a Senshi I am!!!"

"Come and get me!!" Moon taunts.

Howling, Galaxia sends a blast of power her way. Telekinetic shields from the Twins and the Salvation Senshi divert the energy into the remaining Haishin, bowling them over and reverting them back to normal. Watching this from the top of the hut covering the stairwell several paces behind Moon, Terra grins, her fingertips glowing as psychic energy forms into nine intense beams of crystal shattering energy. "Sucker!" she locks on target. "***EARTH, MERCURY, VENUS, MARS, JUPITER, SATURN, URANUS, NEPTUNE, PLUTO!!!! SPIRIT-BREAKER SOLAR SYSTEM FIRE STORM!!!!!!***"

Galaxia screams as the bolts slam into her, shattering the crystals in her hand as the power flows back into the original Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen. Moans escape them as they try to recover, the Golden Senshi staggering as Moon leaps for the kill. "Time to pay the piper!!!" she aims the Lancer at Galaxia's heart...

...just as the Golden Senshi vanishes! Moon screams as the Lancer slams into the roof, cutting a large gash in the concrete, then she bolts back up, looking around. "Find her, Ares!!!"

"She's gone!!" Ares' eyes glow. "All the Haishin, too!"

By then, Uranus is crawling onto her knees, being helped up by Sunaru and Beans. "Wha...what happened...?" she shakes her head, gazing at her classmate. "Hey, Mame-chan, you okay?"

"You guys work too hard," Beans fails to hold back her tears.

"Yeah...with no pay, too..." Uranus sighs, then feels her strength drain.

The Forever Knight then appears. "Let's get them to Rei's shrine," Sailor Moon gazes at the guardian of Infinity. "They can be better cared for there instead of my house."

"Got it," he nods, reaching down to pick Pluto up...

* * *

"Something about this stinks!"

"Eh?! What do you mean, Beans?" Usagi stares at her.

The dazed Senshi and Mamoru now lay on beds in Hikawa Jinja's sacred fire room. Matsuri tends the fire as Sakebu walks around, ensuring that her patients are all okay, assisted by several of the former Shingi Maidens. Taeko was busy fetching snacks. The other Twins, Gurio, Naru and the Salvation Senshi relax by Usagi. "This whole fight reeks to high heaven!" the American fumes, continuing her pacing. "If Galaxia needs star seeds to gain enough power to do whatever she wants, why didn't she split right after she got everyone here?!" she indicates the nine prostrate forms nearby.

"Usagi-chan, Mame-chan has a point," Naru's eyes widen. "Galaxia must've known that I'd have a power to return the star seeds to everyone, so why do this in the first place?"

Usagi blinks, then pales. "We've been set up..."

"For what?!" Nona stares at her sister.

Rising, Usagi walks over to Chie. "Chie-chan, can you sense if the Reverend somehow got to the others through Galaxia?"

"I already have," Chie forlornly nods. "Hai, it's happened."

"What do you mean?!" Yuuichirou looks up from Rei.

"It happened when their power was stolen by Galaxia, Yuu-kun," Chie gazes at the former rock singer. "Somehow, the bracelets she uses to take star seeds were altered to corrupt the star seed when it is taken. Even though Naru's energy attack worked and restored them to normal...the damage was done."

"How?!" Usagi wonders.

"How do we normally hurt people?" Chie shrugs. "We destroy the foundations of their faith in all around them."

"Rei would be the most badly hurt because of it..." Naru muses, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

"Not just religion, Naru," Chie stares at her. "*Faith.* Faith in friends, faith in loved ones, faith in the safety of one's surroundings...faith in EVERYTHING around them!"

"I see what you mean," Beans muses. "In America, with the riots after the raids on churches and places like that, everyone's been setting up barriers to protect themselves. Gun stores are being emptied. In fact, a bunch of riots in the bigger cities've been attributed to a simple argument between two or more people that got deadly because guns were involved."

"You Americans and your Second Amendment," Chooko shakes her head. "Is it any wonder some people don't like you, don't want to live in America...?"

"Chooko-chan, enough!!" Nona snaps before Beans can retaliate, then rises. "This is disUnity at its worst! We...we can't trust any of them now!!" she gazes at the unconscious Senshi and Mamoru.

"They can't trust us," Ayako sighs. "We're newcomers to this game. So're Naru-chan and Gurio-kun. Before, we never had a part to play in their destiny."

"The creation of Crystal Tokyo, you mean," Matsuri hums.

"Hai," the passion mistress nods.

"Still, it's no real problem," Naru muses, then points to Usagi. "They still trust Usagi-chan."

"Will they?" Usagi muses.

Eyes lock on her. "Hey, they're some of your best friends, Usagi," Beans smiles. "They've fought for you loads of times..."

"That's right, Mame-chan, they've fought FOR me," Usagi looks at her. "Damn, Ataru was right! I should've listened to him!!"

"What's Ataru-kun got to do with this?!" Naru blinks.

"Before we started with Teach, Ataru warned me that if I changed myself too much before they could adjust, they'd resent it and start to distance themselves from me," Usagi points to herself. "Remember, in the Silver Millennium, I was the Princess. They were my bodyguards," she points to the Senshi.

"But you can fight better now; we've no objections to it, Usagi-chan!" Nona insists.

"I know and I don't mind that!" Usagi shakes her head. "To you Nendo-kata, fighting for Unity is a natural thing. To Naru-chan, fighting for Life is a natural thing. To them, fighting for their Princess...for me...is natural," she points to the original Senshi and Mamoru. "We've already seen it with Rei! When she saw my new uniform, she freaked right out!"

"I remember that," Naru nods.

"So what do we do?" Junko wonders. "Let Ayako-chan cut loose with the Passion Nova? That'd work big time."

"No, it won't," Ayako sighs. "Emotions are my sole area of expertise, Junko-chan. This is Faith, the belief in oneself and one's surroundings. Not all of that's emotion, Junko-chan. Some of it is cold logic and I'm helpless in that department."

Silence falls as that grim statement sinks in...

* * *

"You are not hurt, are you, Galaxia?"

"I'm quite fine, Reverend," Galaxia bows. "Sailor Moon and Sailor Terra behaved as we planned. The originals and Tuxedo Kamen are now in your hands."

"Good," the dark priest grins. "Now, we'll see..."

* * *

"It's happening now," the Forever Knight sighs.

Sailor Hades nods. Both now stood on the Rock of Infinity, gazing with their eyes and hearts as nine good friends were being rocked with nightmare after nightmare concerning their relationship with Sailor Moon. "Yeah, it's happening," the guardian of Eternity sighs, then stares at her companion. "Why didn't you protect her?"

The guardian of Infinity grimaces, staring at his beloved in her apartment in Juuban, tossing to and fro from a particularly nasty vision of a future without Crystal Tokyo. "She can't learn from this experience by standing on the side. Of the originals, her faith in Usagi as the Princess of the Silver Millennium is by far the strongest...and thus the easiest to pervert."

"She could've warned herself," Hades muses.

"Yeah, she could've," the Forever Knight smiles. "But even with her responsibilities to Time, Setsuna is still a human being. Even with her dedication...she can still make mistakes."

"So can we."

"Yeah. So can we."

* * *

The next morning, Ami gently forces the cookie cutter through the dough, making dozens of small treats for her friends. Her mother, alerted to her daughter's condition by Usagi the previous night, took the day off work to be with her. "How are you?"

"I'm alright, Mother," Ami forces a smile, then begins to extract the unneeded dough from the pan.

With that, her mother slips it into the oven. "You best lay down and get some sleep, Ami," she sighs. "Nearly losing your life is harsh enough on anyone."

"Hai, it is," Ami nods. "Still, I'm glad we don't remember those episodes. The Silver Crystal, I guess..."

A finger lands on her forehead. "Lay DOWN, young lady!!" Mrs. Mizuno orders. "That's not from your mother, that's also from a doctor! Even we know when to rest and relax!!"

"Hai," Ami nods, then heads to her bedroom. Once there, she lays down, then looks around for her books. All gone. Tsuyako or her mother must've been by to hide them and ensure Ami did get some rest. Biting her lips as the usual urge to study hard drains, she lays back, then turns on the radio to an all-news station.

"...did you hear about last night?!" a deejay muses. "Sailor Moon really took care of things at Juuban High School! Let's hear your comments! Go ahead, caller."

"Hi," a teenage woman's voice responds. "I'd just like to say how nice it is that Sailor Moon is doing so much for all of us. Is it true that she's got herself a new uniform?"

"Well, it's been heavily modified from her so-called 'Eternal' look," another man, clearly an "expert" on the Senshi, responds. "The removal of the wings and the remaking of the boots into solid heels gives her a increased degree of mobility when it comes to fighting monsters. Atop that, you have her new energy attacks..."

"And her Moon Lancer sword," the deejay adds.

"That especially!" the expert replies. "Plus, you have the new martial arts she's demonstrating. This is a lady who learns from her mistakes very quickly."

"Well, she was always that way," the caller cuts in.

"Not really," the expert sighs. "You must remember, the original five...Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus...were all around fourteen when they first began work; much earlier in Venus' case when she was just Sailor V. Fourteen is a very young age to start growing up in the midst of a war."

"You can say that again," Ami muses.

"Thank you, caller. What about her new aggressiveness?" the deejay wonders. "I mean, in past fights, we've seen Sailor Moon waiting for the monster to be taken down before destroying it with her Silver Crystal. Now, she's in the thick of things right from the start. How does this affect the Senshi, for example?"

"It depends," the expert replies. "Now, if we believe the whole story of the Silver Millennium...and it is quite plausible given past evidence...then Sailor Moon was the crown princess of that realm, Tuxedo Kamen was her intended and the Sailor Senshi her bodyguards. Obviously, that is a powerful mindset for the Senshi to overcome. In previous battles, yes; Sailor Moon held back until someone defeated the monster before destroying it. Now, as you say, she's right there in the thick of things, leading the charge. For the other Senshi, this must be very disorientating..."

Ami shudders, then clicks off the radio. "Yes, it is..."

* * *

"You really shouldn't listen to that, you know."

Makoto blinks, then stares quizzically at Katsura as they and Wakana clean up from breakfast...

* * *

"Minako-chan, come back to bed, please," Junko dreamily sighs, reaching over to shut the radio off, then gently draws Minako back under the covers...

* * *

"It's happening just like I predicted, Gurio-kun," Setsuna stares at the radio, allowing Gurio's arms to wrap around her.

"Maybe," he kisses her.

"You don't believe?"

"I didn't say that, Setsu-chan," he stares at her, shifting her around to lay atop him. "But even though you've lost something today...you may have gained something better for tomorrow."

Setsuna blinks, then lays her head on his chest. "Why don't I believe that now...?"

* * *

"We've lost our princess, Haruka," Michiru tightly holds her beloved, sobbing. "We've lost her..."

"We'll get her back, love," Haruka kisses her forehead. "One way or another, we'll get her back..."

* * *

"Idiots, what do THEY know about what Usagi-chan feels?!" Naru snarls, snapping off the radio before getting back to her books...

* * *

"I'm afraid, Chooko-chan."

"There's nothing to fear but fear itself, Hotaru-chan," Chooko smiles as the two relax in the latter's room at the Tsukino residence. "Usagi-chan is just growing up a little more. It's natural for her to feel that way after seeing you suffer on her behalf for so long. Be at peace with yourself."

"But we're supposed to suffer, Chooko-chan," Hotaru's eyes narrow. "We must suffer for her. That is the way..."

"...it was a thousand years ago," Chooko stares at her. "But this is now and you are much different from that time, sister. If you allow yourself to dwell too much on the past, then you'll never be at peace with yourself in the future. Do you want that?"

"No..."

* * *

"Usako," Mamoru gazes out the window of his apartment...

* * *

"It's over, Chie-chan."

"Is it?"

Rei gazes bleakly at the former Shingi Maiden, they relaxing in the priestess' bedroom. Chie was now wearing the vestments of a Shinto shrine maiden. "What would you think?" she sniffs. "We've always fought to protect Usagi, nearly died for her on a couple of occasions. Now..."

Chie sighs, glaring at the offending radio whose broadcast had really wrecked Rei's day, not that last night's events and a half-dozen nightmares following was anything to be content with. "Why do you think she did it?"

"She hates us...!" Rei sobs.

"Can you be sure?!"

"Eh?"

"I think Usagi loves you very much," Chie smiles assuredly. "We're empathic. Before we were freed of the Reverend's control, we would focus on the bonds between you and Usagi, destroy them or disrupt them to foster mistrust, then allow events to escalate to a situation where you would fight Usagi, try to destroy her."

Rei is ashen-faced. "I'd kill myself first!!!"

"Oh?" Chie muses. "Listen to yourself now, Rei. You think you've lost Usagi..."

"We have!!" Rei cries.

"Tell me how," Chie prods.

Silence falls as Rei dams her tears. "She is our princess. A thousand years ago...another lifetime...we all took an oath to protect and watch out for her. When...we discovered that she was the reborn Princess Serenity, all of us found ourselves fulfilling that role again. We're comfortable with it. It's safe and secure for us to feel that way..."

"Even at risk of your lives?"

"Hai. Even at that."

"How does Usagi feel about it?"

Rei blinks. "She never minded it before..."

"But this is here and now, Rei," Chie warns. "I can sense it when I'm close to Usagi. Deep down, she's scared for you. Last night could have been her worst nightmare come true hadn't Naru been there to save you. How many times was this? Another time with Galaxia, the fight with Beryl in the Arctic? How many times do you flirt with Eternity before it claims you once and for all?"

Silence falls. "I think the reason Usagi has begun to change this way...why she says 'I'm not the Princess'...is that, in her heart, she's saying 'being a princess threatens my friends and the man I desire to marry,'" Chie sighs. "That's a harsh thing for someone her age to absorb, Rei. She's had to change so much over the last few years. Her faith in her situation has been slowly eroded day by day. But she's found it within herself to build a new faith, a new confidence in herself and her surroundings. She doesn't want to exclude any of you, Rei. She sees her life as having you in it, as her friends and family."

"It's not the way it's supposed to be..."

Chie stares at her, cursing herself for not being strong enough empathically that she could go into Rei's mind and undo the damage. Losing her personal connection to the Reverend cut her empathic abilities in half...and who know how the Reverend would react if a former Maiden was trying to make right the wrongs he unleashed on these people. "Rei, let me tell you something," she sighs. "What you're going through right now is what all the Fushin's victims go through when they confront a crisis of faith. You have three choices before you. You can surrender your faith and allow yourself to be plunged into Chaos. You can hold onto your faith regardless of the damage it takes, regardless of what price that act extracts from your soul. Or you can surrender your faith...and make something stronger to take its place. There have been times when we've been thrown off planets by people who made something stronger. This is your chance to do the same for yourself and your people. Don't throw it away, please."

No response. Chie blinks, then rises, heading into the sacred fire room. Rei's grandfather and Yuuichirou sit there having tea. "Any luck?" the former rock singer stares at the new shrine apprentice as she relaxes beside him.

"Nothing," Chie shakes her head. "The claws have been dug in way too deep. All she's focusing on now is Usagi's evolution, how it's breaking her away from the mould of Princess Serenity."

"I wish I fully understood the whole story of the Silver Millennium to better understand how Rei would relate to Usagi," the elder priest sighs. "Who could we ask that could help us better understand this?"

"Outside Setsuna, who's been hit already, I can't think of anyone..." Yuuichirou muses.

"Luna and Artemis," Chie proposes.

The men blink...

* * *

"Trouble, sister."

Usagi looks up from her books. "What sort of trouble, Nona?"

Nona places a poster on her sister's desk. Usagi blinks. "Multi-faith rally at the Juuban Arena...gods, that's tomorrow!!"

"At noon," Nona grits her teeth. "This place will be jammed with parishioners...potential targets for Fushingi."

Usagi's eyes narrow, then sits back. "Call the Twins and Naru-chan. We'll meet at Ayako's and Matsuri's place in an hour; I can't trust having the originals and Mamo-chan there with what Galaxia just did. Get Yuu-chan's friends there, too...and Mame-chan," she points to the picture of the preacher, an American evangelical minister. "She can tell us more about this fellow. With Ami down, we'll need all the help we can figuring this out."

"Hai," Nona nods.

Once the moon huntress has departed, Luna walks inside. "You won't include the others?" the black-furred cat wonders.

"I can't bring them in with what happened last night, Luna," Usagi sighs. "We don't know how much they've been influenced by Fushingi. Fate knows, I've done enough to shake their lives up..."

"Why must you blame yourself?" Luna wonders.

"Luna!!" Usagi blinks, then sighs. "Luna, do you still think of me as Princess Serenity?"

Taken aback by that question, Luna sighs. "Yes, I do."

"And what do you think of what's happened to me?"

"You mean with your desire to be a better fighter and that?" Luna smiles. "Usagi, let me tell you something. A princess' fate is usually either to marry a prince...or become a queen."

Usagi blinks. "You're growing up, Usagi," Luna bats a tear away with a paw. "It's hard for me to watch you grow up. In that way, I'm like other mothers even though I've had far less influence on you than your own mother. On another level, I'm proud of you. You're making your own decisions. You're anticipating trouble and trying to prepare for it. You're looking out for everyone's interests, not just your own. That's what any good leader, be they president, general...or queen...is supposed to do.

"Very soon...we don't know when, of course...you will finally become QUEEN Serenity and begin to construct Crystal Tokyo. You don't know what that's going to be like; you hardly learned a thing when you visited Chibi-usa's time fighting Prince Demand. Maybe becoming a better fighter...and trying to standing on your own two feet...has something to do with it. As Ataru and Lum can certainly attest, it takes a lot to construct a society, which is far more than just building a city. It's creating traditions, forging ways to relate between people, all sorts of complex things."

"I've never sat back and thought it through, you know," Usagi muses, rubbing her arms.

"Of course not; it's far too big to consider in one night," Luna chuckles, then looks serious. "But that is for the future. Right now, we have to ensure that we have a future...and for that, we best get to Ayako's place."

"Right," Usagi rises...

* * *

"It was hard for me to sneak away from Minako-chan like that," Junko frowns as everyone relaxes in the living room of the Twins' old apartment complex. It is quite a crowd: the Twins, Usagi, Naru, Gurio, Luna, Artemis, the Salvation Senshi, all twelve former Shingi Maidens and Beans. Atop that, Usagi got Yuki to teleport Negako down from Chitose. "She didn't ask anything, but I could tell she was curious about why the Twins were getting together."

"Same with me," Katsura sighs. "With both Wakana and I leaving at the same time; if Fushingi is monitoring us through Mako-chan and the others, he must know we're up to something."

"Agreed, so let's make this fast and *keep it quiet* from the others when we're done," Usagi emphasizes, then looks at the lone American. "Mame-chan, can you tell us about this preacher? Is he been hurt by scandal or anything like that?"

"He's as clean as a whistle," Beans asserts. "Pretty good preacher, too. Lot of people like and respect him."

"Which makes him a target for the other Maidens," Yuu warns.

"Okay, second thing: last night, the Maidens didn't show up, which means they're onto our trying to nail them first when the fight starts," Usagi looks to Gurio. "Think you and Yuki can teleport onto their ship and make things ugly enough for them to teleport off and get them into our range?"

"Strange as this sounds, the ship they're using is normal, though it is powered by the Reverend's will," Gurio purses his lips. "But shifting various parts into different dimensions would liven things up nicely. By the way, I'm generating a null-space field over the house to block out any direct empathic scans the Reverend can use, so we can relax on the secrecy part."

"That's good," Naru sighs. "Now all we have to do is keep the others from showing up."

"Are they on our side?" Nona muses. "Ayako?"

"Hard for me to tell," the passion mistress shakes her head. "Their thoughts are churning like a whirlpool. One moment, they're normal, the next..." she waves her hands helplessly.

"Negako, can you postulate what could happen?" Luna stares at the ninjitsu grandmistress.

Negako hums, crossing her arms. "Best case scenario: they'll remember their loyalty to Usagi and stand at her side. Worse case: they'll be totally corrupted by Fushingi and fight with his agents. In case that happens, there is a special function I had built into the Moon Lancer, Usagi. Strike them anywhere with the tip and you will drain their chi, rendering them totally powerless. And only you can restore them to normal with the Crystal."

Luna and Artemis exchange wary looks. Usagi blinks, then sighs. "Thanks, Teach. I just hope it doesn't go that far."

"'Pray for the best, prepare for the worst,'" Beans muses.

"Wise words," Luna sighs. "So, we have Gurio and Yuki covering the Fushin's ship. Naru must remain to the side in case Galaxia comes. That leaves the other Twins and Usagi..."

"And us!" Chuuko cuts in, grinning.

Akane and Reiko nod. "What about the kids?!" Artemis wonders.

"We'll watch over them," Wakana muses, indicating the other former Shingi Maidens. "Besides, if you force the Reverend and the Maidens off the ship, they'll be too busy running for their lives to worry about tracking those kids down."

"If necessary, we could ask Nicole to protect them aboard her crystal palace," Luna hums.

"Thirteen on thirteen," Usagi hums. "Even odds. Not the best sort of game I'd like to play."

"Got no choice," Beans warns.

"Yeah," Usagi nods. "Anything else?"

"I'd like to take Naru aside for a while to teach her to draw the soulsword with as minimal concentration as needed," Negako sighs. "With that, she can immediately close quarters with Galaxia and disable her right then and there. Once that's done, she's free to plug up any gaps in our strategy...though I remind you that most battle plans rarely survive first contact with the enemy."

"Don't matter," Usagi grimaces. "There's too much at stake to worry about things screwing up...far too much this time."

The others solemnly nod...

* * *

To be concluded...